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by Alan Alper, MA Editorial Staff Posted on Thursday, January 25, 2007 4:52:59 PM   | Abstract: | Now in its third year, MA's Progressive Manufacturing concept is being expanded to include two new, important disciplines: Leadership and Operational Excellence. |
 A set of pervasive trends — call them business imperatives — is coursing through the manufacturing market. Globalization, competition, price pressure and... costs — particularly those not directly related to production — continue to rise dramatically. Increasing regulations, healthcare, and legal obligations are, in many cases, offsetting hard-won, automation-enabled productivity benefits... These changes add up to an inflection point for manufacturers because they are not merely a collection of unfortunate yet temporary trends. They are profound, permanent, and industry wide. And they mean one thing: The strategies and competencies which manufacturers have relied upon won't guarantee success or even survival over the next 10 years. With this clarion call nearly three years ago, Managing Automation launched its Progressive Manufacturing concept (see "The Rise of the Progressive Manufacturer," June 2004). For those new to Managing Automation, Progressive Manufacturing was conceived as a six-point, pro-growth agenda to help manufacturers contend with the realities of globalization, changing rules of competition, and the pervasiveness of technologies. It defines the fundamental business-technology disciplines — competencies, if you will — that manufacturers must master in order to cope with these fundamental forces as well as mounting structural cost disadvantages. Moreover, the concept calls for manufacturers to radically transform their business processes by adopting advanced technologies to interconnect often far-flung manufacturing operations and improve organizational productivity and agility. Being progressive, MAbelieves, starts with breakthrough business models and market-changing product innovations. It then requires manufacturers to achieve excellence in supply chain management and customer interaction by continually refining and optimizing key business activities. Doing all this, of course, requires manufacturers to build a technology infrastructure that accommodates business process change by providing integrated access to all key data and applications across the extended manufacturing enterprise — including key business partners. And it means that manufacturers must invest in their people — a sorely overlooked but critical aspect of today's information economy — by providing training and education programs to help attract and retain a technically competent and productive workforce. (For full PM definitions, see the sidebar.) [Click to continue] |